A committee of inquiry (COI) in Singapore said on Monday that three critical factors led to security lapses that resulted in the country's Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader Mas Selamat Kastari's escape from the Whitley Road detention center on February 27 this year.
According to Channel NewsAsia reports, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng represented the findings of the three-member panel in Parliament on Monday afternoon.
The first factor is there was a physical security breach as the ventilation window in the toilet, from which Mas Selamat made his escape, did not have grilles. The second factor is the guards watching the detainee allowed him to close the door of the urinal cubicle when they should not have done so. The third factor is there was a physical weakness in the perimeter fencing outside the Family Visitation Block, where the toilet was located, which made it easier for the Mas Selamat to get out of the detention center's premises.
Wong said the delay by the guards and their failure to keep MasSelamat in sight was the second most critical security failure which led to the terrorist's escape. By this time, 11 minutes had lapsed since he first entered the toilet.
The committee also believes that Mas Selamat had planned his escape over time.
Officers responsible for Mas Selamat's escape from the detention center will be disciplined and penalized, Wong said, adding that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is expected to make a ministerial statement in Parliament on Tuesday on government responsibility for Mas Selamat's escape.
Believing that the JI leader is still in the country, Singapore has since later February been conducting a massive manhunt for MasSelamat.
Source:Xinhua
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